Windows 7 Hard disk works all the time

WojtekK1902

Active Member
Joined
Oct 30, 2012
Hello,
I am really not sure if it is the proper section for my thread but I don't see any better. I have the following problem: for some time my hard disk continually works even if I do nothing, even if no program is running. It is really annoying, because I'm not sure if there is some virus, some unnecessary process or something like that. I don't know what data or information I should provide to give more details... Could you please help me?
Regards!
 
Use the Resource Monitor to find out which program or process is causing the read/writes.
 
The most reads cause:
1) firefox.exe
2) svchost.exe (??)
3) MsMpEng.exe
4) System
5) chrome.exe
6) svchost.exe (??)
7) Dropbox.exe
8) svchost.exe (??)

The most writes cause:
1) firefox.exe
2) SearchIndexer.exe
3) chrome.exe
4) System
5) plugin-container.exe
6) svchost.exe (??)
7) services.exe
8) svchost.exe (??)
 
Disable all Firefox addons, see if that helps. Make sure your looking at HDD read/writes and not memory read/writes. If you've added a lot of files or a new hard drive, or a new email account with thousands of emails lately SearchIndexer may be re-indexing your hard drive. If you haven't I would suggest resetting Search Indexer's database.

Start, Run, "control /name Microsoft.IndexingOptions", Advanced, Rebuild. Note that you will see lots of HDD activity after rebuilding this, which is normal. It may take hours for it to go away, and Indexing performs faster if the machine is left idle.
 
Hello,
I have resetted Search Indexer's database as you suggested. Unfortunately, I can't see any improvement.
However, it was very puzzling for me that while the resetting was performed, there was an information that "it will last longer because of the user's activity". I didn't do anything and no program was running! Maybe there is some unwanted process running?
Moreover, I am wondering if there should be automatic weekly disk defragmentation planned? It may slow the system down.
And do you know if these "svchost.exe" processes are safe?

Cheers!
 
The user activity message is normal, indexing only happens when user activity (i.e. user is not present on system), as it uses lots of resources such as hdd activity and slows the machine down. That is why indexing happens when the machine is idle as I said in my earlier post.

svchost.exe contains multiple subset processes such as your services running. It also is common for some viruses to name themselves that because they know its normal to see a lot of them running. My suggestion is to use Process Explorer from Microsoft/Sysinternals located here:

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sysinternals/bb896653

Process Explorer will show you the individual services running under each svchost, and you should be able to pinpoint which service is the culprit.
To use it effectively you can find the specific svchost using all the disk activity, and then carefully one by one stop the services running underneath it until the activity stops, thus pointing out which service is using the resources.

It would not hurt to do a full virus scan, as well as a full scan with Malwarebytes, as well as HitMan Pro.

If you question anything you see in Process Explorer, post a screen shot and we can advise.
 
On a side note you can use Task Manager also to find out which services are running under each svchost, right click the svchost.exe in Task Manager and choose the "Go to services" option, however its not as intuitive or graceful as using Process Explorer. It will simply highlight the running services under that instance in the Services tab of Task Manager.
 
Hello,

I'm so sorry for such a big delay in my answer.
I have checked the services running under the instances of various svchosts. I don't think that these are any threats, however I am not sure if all of them are necessary. Could you help me? These are:
- Themes
- MMCSS
- LanmanServer
- iphlpsvc
- IKEEXT
- EapHost
- Browser
- BITS
- AeLookupSvc
- wudfsvc
- WPDBusEnum
- TrkWks
- CscService

What really annoys me is that, for example, when I'm watching some video on YT, it is not played smoothly (btw, plugin-container.exe from Firefox and FlashPlayerPlugin also have many Reads...)

Cheers!
 
You all missed one. He may have MALWARE !!! Run a full virus scan and let it remove anything. Download Malwarebytes Anti Malware free from www.malwarebytes.org, install it let it update it's definitions and when it open's up let it run a full scan of your pc. Let it remove what it finds and restart your pc. During the restart pc process press the F8 key repeatedly and select Safe Mode. Recan in Safe Mode with your antvirus software and Malwarebytes. Let both remove any infections found. Now restart your pc and see how thing's are now.
 
Hi there, I have run all the test as you have advised (including scan in a safe mode). It didn't help. HDD still works all the time... I thought about reinstalling the system but I am not keen to install all drivers and software once more...
Do you have any other piece of advice?
 
Hi WojtekK1902. If you want to avoid a re-install of the system, I would try to create a second profile (new user) on your machine to troubleshoot. This will tell you whether it is something in your Windows profile, or if it is something caused by a system process. If you find that, within a new user account the problem subsides, this means that you just need to do a profile rebuild on your profile (this is much easier than doing a full system re-install). If the same issue occurs when you are logged into another profile, unfortunately the simplest route to take would be to re-install the OS.
Make sure that you backup things like Favorites, documents, and basically anything else that you need to keep that is located in C:\Users\%User%.

Hope this helps
 
Hi,
I have 3 profiles and I'm afraid that it happens on each of them. But I will check this more precisely. So there is no possibility to reinstall system and keep all the data, drivers etc.?
 
You can run a backup of your data on an external disk or possibly upload to a cloud service such as Google Drive or Dropbox. Re-installing the drivers may take some legwork depending on your setup. Generally Windows Update can locate these drivers fairly quickly and without much hassle but there is the potential for some headaches when it comes to wireless drivers. Be warned that if you do not have a wired connection, you might need to find one for Windows Update to properly pull down all the updates including the wireless driver. Applications will not be retained, you will need to re-install these.

I would suggest running Windows in safe mode to see if your HD continues to spin consistently. If that is the case, it may not even be beneficial for a OS re-install. At this point, you may want to consider replacing the hard drive.
 
That is very good advice from WackWack, I would also disable all non Microsoft Services, temporarily to troubleshoot.
 
Hi,
Once more I was observing information about processes in Task Manager and it is very strange for me that some processes make Input/Output Writes and Reads practically all the time:
- SearchIndexer.exe
- firefox.exe
- Plugin Container for Firefox
- Adobe Flash Player 11.9
I am pretty sure that these are the reasons of my issue... Do you have any ideas what I could do with them?
 
Try uninstalling Firefox. I had problems with Firefox and it's Flash plugin causing BSODs. I uninstalled and the problem went away.
Joe
 
Lol, but what if I want to use Firefox? :D And it is not causing BSODs, it makes hard disk working all the time.
 
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